'Bachelor' wins aud's heart
Skein added 2 mil viewers over previous week
Penultimate episode of the six-week reality series "The Bachelor" shot up another 20% week-to-week Monday, according to Nielsen, winning the 9 o'clock hour in all key demos. It added more than 2 million viewers overall from the previous week (13.14m vs. 11.06m).
It was the No. 1 program of the night in both adults 18-49 (5.7/14) and adults 18-34 (6.1/16), topping its closest competitor in the latter by a whopping 91%. In overall audience, it finished second to CBS' 9 o'clock comedy block.
Other than mini "Stephen King's Rose Red" last winter, this is the best ABC has fared without sports in Monday's 9 o'clock hour since January 2001.
ABC is asking a lot of "The Bachelor" by airing its finale on Thursday at 9 (opening night of sweeps) opposite CBS' "CSI" and NBC's "Will & Grace."
Still, the growing audience for the skein and the fact that ABC has done well with some sweeps Thursday programming this season ("Victoria's Secret Fashion Show," for example) bodes pretty well for the conclusion. On that night, contestant Alex Michel will announce whom among the original 30 women he has chosen as his potential wife.
"The Bachelor" helped send the competing "Ally McBeal" on Fox (3.6/9) and "Becker" on CBS (3.7/9) to firstrun series lows in 18-49.
NBC won Monday in adults 18-49 (4.4/11) despite repeats of "Fear Factor" and "Crossing Jordan," which both still won their hours. And at 9, "Third Watch" was a solid second (4.3/10) to "The Bachelor."
CBS scored a total-viewers victory but was sluggish in demos for a Monday. Special episode of "First Monday" (9.10m, 2.6/7 in 18-49) failed to do much at 10, losing a chunk of viewers on the half-hour and keeping the net third in 18-49 and 25-54.
ABC did only so-so with 10 o'clock spec "Contact: Talking to the Dead" (8.65m, 3.2/9 in 18-49).
